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Donation brings HSN a step closer to pediatric centre (2 photos)

Health Sciences North is one small step closer to getting its own standalone pediatric care centre thanks to a donation from local restauranteurs Friday.
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embers of the Sudbury Hospitality Association of Restaurant Entrepreneurs – which represents 12 locally-owned restaurants – presented a cheque for $12,744 to the Health Sciences North Foundation Friday. The funds will help the hospital build a standalone centre for pediatric care. Photo by Jonathan Migneault.
Health Sciences North is one small step closer to getting its own standalone pediatric care centre thanks to a donation from local restauranteurs Friday.

Sudbury Hospitality Association of Restaurant Entrepreneurs – which represents 12 locally owned restaurants – presented a cheque for more than $12,000 to the Health Sciences North Foundation.

The funds will go towards an all-encompassing centre for inpatient pediatric care at Health Sciences North, said Dr. Sean Murray, a pediatrician and medical director of the hospital's Family and Child Program.

Plans for the treatment centre are still in the very early stages, said Murray.
“There are a lot of administrative hoops to jump through to do this properly,” he said.

The current goal, he said, is for a building that would feature more than 40,000 square feet dedicated to pediatric care.

It would centralize services including pediatric cancer treatment, clinic visits and specialized procedures in a child-friendly environment.

But Murray said until the architectural designs are completed, current plans are subject to change.

He said a standalone centre for pediatric care would help children like Luca Maschio, who was born around 10 weeks premature, and needed care at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, where he stayed for 86 days.

“Part of that is to have health care that can be delivered for families here,” Murray said about the hospital's goal for a standalone pediatric care building. “If you have a child with special needs, you shouldn't feel the need to move elsewhere.”

Luca's mother, Alicia Maschio, said her son, who is now two years old, has received a lot of care in Sudbury since returning from Toronto, but it has been scattered around different hospital departments.

She said a building dedicated to pediatric care would be “wonderful.”

“More children than we realize are in need of this care,” Maschio said.

Leslie Moutsatsos, the owner of P & M's Kouzzina and a member of the Sudbury Hospitality Association of Restaurant Entrepreneurs, said donating to the Health Sciences North Foundation was a no-brainer.

“We're all parents,” she said. “Some of us have had sick kids.”

The association plans to make more similar donations in the future, she said.

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Jonathan Migneault

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